LEINSTER RUGBY

BANK OF IRELAND

PROVINCIAL TOWNS CUP

Sunday March 1st 2020

SHAY MURTAGH PARK

MULLINGAR

vs

BOYNE

Kick Off

15.00

The Bank of Ireland Provincial Town Cup. The holy grail of junior rugby in Leinster. The competition was established in 1888 and was originally called the Leinster Junior Challenge Trophy, the trophy itself was purchased on 1892 for the princely sum of £25. The eligibility to enter the competition changed in 1926 when it became a competition for junior teams at least 18 miles from the GPO in Dublin.

In this year’s editions Mullingar have the benefit of home advantage at Shay Murtagh Park on Sunday 1^st March at 15.00 but they face Boyne RFC who are playing in Leinster League Division 1B, a division higher than Mullingar. Mullingar have had success in the competition but you have to go all the way back to the 1950’s to find Mullingar’s name on the trophy, when they won it in both 1954 and 1956. The win in 1954 was inspired by the arrival of Milo Cox, a Bective Rangers and Connacht scrum half who arrived in Mullingar to set up a veterinary practice, Mullingar beat Naas 3-0 to win the final in Tullamore that year. In 1956 Mullingar also had the benefit of two former internationals, Kevin Quinn and Mick (The Yak) Hillary who were working in the town when they beat Kilkenny 11-6, again in Tullamore. Mullingar reached the final in 1957 however they lost to Co. Carlow RFC 11-6 following a replay. You have to fast forward all the way to 1989 to find the next time Mullingar contested a final which they lost 6-0 to Enniscorthy. Mullingar lost finals in 1993 and 1996, both to Co. Carlow RFC with the decider in 1993 needing a replay to separate the teams.

Recent expeditions by Mullingar to try and capture the cup have been fruitless, you have to go back to 2013 to find the last time Mullingar advanced past the first round courtesy of a conceded fixture from New Ross. However in the next round Mullingar lost a home tie to neighbours Tullamore with a score line of 8-52. You have to go back to 20 February 2011 to find the last time Mullingar actually won a cup fixture with New Ross featuring again, the score line was 10-3 to Mullingar. Mullingar lost the following round 6-9 to Wicklow in a home fixture.

Results since 2011/2012 season onwards

2011/12 Longford 13 – 3 Mullingar

2012/13 Mullingar 8 – 52 Tullamore

2013/14 Gorey 23 – 6 Mullingar

2014/15 Gorey 17 – 16 Mullingar

2015/16 Kilkenny 7 – 6 Mullingar

2016/17 Mullingar 23 – 27 Gorey

2017/18 Wicklow 58 – 0 Mullingar

Despite some narrow misses the results above don’t make for pretty reading and last year reached a particularly low ebb with Mullingar forced to concede an away fixture to Tullow due to a small squad suffering from injuries.

So what of this year’s quest of capture the cup for the first time in 64 years, surely expectations are low. However, in sport events can turn quickly and junior rugby is no different. Despite hanging on narrowly to retain their Leinster League Division 2A last season, this season Mullingar won the league with two games to spare to add to the Midland League that they captured at Christmas. There are a large number of reasons why fortunes have changed so dramatically and they probably started with the appointment of Dave Farrelly as Chair of Rugby Development. Dave Farrelly is a man steeped in the Scarlet and Dove Grey of Mullingar, a captain on two occasions, coach of the men’s team, coach of the senior women with great success and the club CCRO for a number of seasons, his experience this season has been invaluable.

The next important building block was the appointment of TC Campbell as head coach and Cormac Dunne as assistant coach both of whom had been on the coaching ticket the previous year, they bring a vast amount of knowledge and enthusiasm to their roles. They had the added advantage of being involved with the club the previous year so they knew the areas that needed to be addressed within the senior set up. The final piece in the coaching ticket was the addition of Lemeki Vaipulu as a player/coach, he has contributed to the defence and added leadership on the field.  Of course the key to being a good coach is having good players and the playing ranks have been swelled in both quality and quantity by the return of players such as Paul Maxwell, Daire Conway, Donal McGovern, Shane Raleigh, David Faulkner, the recruitment of players who moved to town for work reasons such as Luke Finegan, Mitchell Millar, Alan Naughton, David Lynam and promotions from the underage system such as Brian Reidy, Petar Mitic, Niall Derham, Stephen Derham, Cian Cleary, Ryan Brennan, Matthew Doyle and Matthew Looram. It would be remiss to mention the appointment of Darren Brady as captain, Darren is an honest and hardworking player with a deceptive turn of pace who commands the respect of the entire squad and through his actions and deeds he has played a big part in building the culture this year. The final piece of the jigsaw was the appointment of James Murphy as first team manager and Peter Faulkner as second team manager, both have held various roles in the club including president and they have added a lot to the set up this year.

Boyne won the Provincial Towns Cup in 2009 and 2010 before securing promotion to the All-Ireland League (AIL) in 2011. They were relegated from AIL Division 2C following the 2016/17 season and they have found the adjustment to junior status difficult however it appears that their fortunes may have turned, with some impressive results since Christmas. Built into the DNA of Boyne is a never say die attitude which runs through the club from top to bottom, Mullingar experienced this first-hand the last time Mullingar faced Boyne in the cup in 2007 which Boyne won 23-0 following a heavy loss to Mullingar in the League the previous week. There is no doubt Mullingar face a difficult task to overturn their recent fortunes in the Cup however they enter this year’s competition having lost only two fixtures this season, full of confidence and with loads of momentum. It promises to be a hugely entertaining and intriguing contest.

#LETSDOTHIS